Over the years, I have often wondered about what goes into the preparation of a gala routine.
Firstly, do the skaters or their teams have any input into the lighting that accompanies their routine?
I have mentioned a few times on here that I was in my school’s production of “Annie” in 1999 and “Hello Dolly” in 2002. Like all the productions before it, “Annie” was held in the school assembly hall. But, then a theatre opened in my hometown in 2000. And in subsequent years, the school productions were held there.
Anyway, through this move, I was able to see first hand the amount of work that goes into programming the lighting at a specialist venue compared to doing it manually in a school hall. And this was only for lights pointing at a small stage. Not a massive ice rink.
With most galas, we just have 4 white spotlights (2 on either side of the rink) which are centred on the skater(s) and follow them around the rink. But other galas are able to put on much more complicated light shows. Some even gear the lighting to the routine, and have just the spotlights for the slow numbers, and all manner of coloured lighting for the more up-tempo numbers.
But, who is it that designs these lighting routines (for want of a better word)? Do the skaters and their teams design it themselves, and give the programming files to the lighting people at the rink? Or, are the light shows created by the lighting people at the rink?
The second thing I was wondering about is practicing gala routines. Of course, the competition routines are the most important, and rightly take priority. So, the gala routines probably aren’t practiced as much.
However, a lot of skaters throw Adagio moves into their gala routines. These moves are riskier and, hence, they are not allowed to be done in competition routines. So, the skaters throw them into gala routines to show the audience just what they are capable of doing. For example, Elladj Baldé frequently puts backflips into his gala routines.
But, surely this means the skaters would need to practice their gala routines more often, because they are not doing these Adagio moves regularly.
Anyway, one thing I am curious to know is do the skaters ever practice their gala routines under gala conditions, i.e. in the dark with spotlights pointed at them? Or, do they just practice gala routines in normal lighting conditions?
For that matter, do they ever do full dress rehearsals for gala routines, with their gala costumes as well as the gala lighting?
The reason I have decided to bring this up now is because of a particular gala routine we saw this season. In it, the girl was wearing a dress that looked fine under the normal lighting, and fine in that sort-of twilight lighting you get when not directly under the spotlight. But, when she was directly under the spotlight, the dress went completely see-through. And to further compound matters, she wasn’t wearing a bra. Fortunately, she was wearing underwear lower down, so her modesty was at least protected there.
This skater seemed totally oblivious to the fact that the lighting was having this effect on her dress. Which is what made me think that the gala routine mustn’t have been practiced under the spotlights. Because if it had, somebody from her team would have spotted the problem, and would have told her that she needed to wear something different. Or at least wear more under it.
I was shocked to find that the second time that we saw this girl in a gala, she was wearing the exact same dress. But, this time, the spotlights were not as intense as they were at the first gala. And there were additional coloured lights pointing at the ice.
And the result of this different lighting was that the dress was not anywhere near as revealing as it was the previous time we saw it. In fact, it wasn't revealing at all now.
All of which suggests to me that one of two things had happened which accounted for this different light show:
Either way, the fact that this competition was in the country she was representing was probably the reason for the difference.
I should add that this skater is into her twenties, so it is not as if she is inexperienced at performing under gala conditions.
So, can anybody shed some light into the preparations that go into a gala routine?
(Sorry for that really bad pun. )
CaroLiza_fan
Firstly, do the skaters or their teams have any input into the lighting that accompanies their routine?
I have mentioned a few times on here that I was in my school’s production of “Annie” in 1999 and “Hello Dolly” in 2002. Like all the productions before it, “Annie” was held in the school assembly hall. But, then a theatre opened in my hometown in 2000. And in subsequent years, the school productions were held there.
Anyway, through this move, I was able to see first hand the amount of work that goes into programming the lighting at a specialist venue compared to doing it manually in a school hall. And this was only for lights pointing at a small stage. Not a massive ice rink.
With most galas, we just have 4 white spotlights (2 on either side of the rink) which are centred on the skater(s) and follow them around the rink. But other galas are able to put on much more complicated light shows. Some even gear the lighting to the routine, and have just the spotlights for the slow numbers, and all manner of coloured lighting for the more up-tempo numbers.
But, who is it that designs these lighting routines (for want of a better word)? Do the skaters and their teams design it themselves, and give the programming files to the lighting people at the rink? Or, are the light shows created by the lighting people at the rink?
The second thing I was wondering about is practicing gala routines. Of course, the competition routines are the most important, and rightly take priority. So, the gala routines probably aren’t practiced as much.
However, a lot of skaters throw Adagio moves into their gala routines. These moves are riskier and, hence, they are not allowed to be done in competition routines. So, the skaters throw them into gala routines to show the audience just what they are capable of doing. For example, Elladj Baldé frequently puts backflips into his gala routines.
But, surely this means the skaters would need to practice their gala routines more often, because they are not doing these Adagio moves regularly.
Anyway, one thing I am curious to know is do the skaters ever practice their gala routines under gala conditions, i.e. in the dark with spotlights pointed at them? Or, do they just practice gala routines in normal lighting conditions?
For that matter, do they ever do full dress rehearsals for gala routines, with their gala costumes as well as the gala lighting?
The reason I have decided to bring this up now is because of a particular gala routine we saw this season. In it, the girl was wearing a dress that looked fine under the normal lighting, and fine in that sort-of twilight lighting you get when not directly under the spotlight. But, when she was directly under the spotlight, the dress went completely see-through. And to further compound matters, she wasn’t wearing a bra. Fortunately, she was wearing underwear lower down, so her modesty was at least protected there.
This skater seemed totally oblivious to the fact that the lighting was having this effect on her dress. Which is what made me think that the gala routine mustn’t have been practiced under the spotlights. Because if it had, somebody from her team would have spotted the problem, and would have told her that she needed to wear something different. Or at least wear more under it.
I was shocked to find that the second time that we saw this girl in a gala, she was wearing the exact same dress. But, this time, the spotlights were not as intense as they were at the first gala. And there were additional coloured lights pointing at the ice.
And the result of this different lighting was that the dress was not anywhere near as revealing as it was the previous time we saw it. In fact, it wasn't revealing at all now.
All of which suggests to me that one of two things had happened which accounted for this different light show:
- the team had an input into the lighting that was used during the routine this time around
or
- the organisers had noticed the problem themselves and decided to act on their own accord to save her blushes.
Either way, the fact that this competition was in the country she was representing was probably the reason for the difference.
I should add that this skater is into her twenties, so it is not as if she is inexperienced at performing under gala conditions.
So, can anybody shed some light into the preparations that go into a gala routine?
(Sorry for that really bad pun. )
CaroLiza_fan